Right Place, Right Time
by skygirl55
Summary: Sometimes, people come together in the most incredible of ways. Caskett. Inspired by the musical "Come From Away." One-Shot


Sometimes, people come together in the most incredible of ways. Caskett. Inspired by the musical "Come From Away." One-Shot

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A/N: Please see longer fic explanation at the end of the story

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 **September 11 2001**

Sitting in his first-class plane seat, Richard Castle scrubbed his fingers over his face and then held them over his mouth to cover a yawn. His eyes were so tired they practically felt like they were on fire and the ache between his temples seemed as though it would now become a permanent fixture in his skull. He supposed that was what happened when one was up for as many hours as he'd been.

Thanks to a late-night book launch event celebrating Derek Storm's latest adventures, Castle hadn't returned to his Berlin hotel room until after midnight. He was only able to sleep for around three hours before he needed to get up, finish packing, and then travel to the airport for his return flight. He thought he might be able to get a few more hours of sleep on the plane, but there had been turbulence and the flight attendant kept bringing out food and drinks. By the time the flight was half over, he decided to just give up on napping and focus on the Patterson novel he was reading (keeping up with the competition, of course). He decided would simply go to bed atypically early that night, perhaps even at his daughter's bedtime, which he almost never did, but he figured he'd be tired enough for it. Then, everything began to change.

Just two hours before their flight was scheduled to land in Newark, the captain announced that they would instead be touching down in Newfoundland, Canada—a town called Gander, to be specific—because of "an incident on the ground." The captain repeated several times that there was nothing wrong with their aircraft, but they did need to temporarily land until the situation surrounding the incident could be further assessed.

As passengers around him groaned and griped, Castle's overactive-imagination spun to action. If their captain was to be believed and there was nothing wrong with their plane, he could hardly imagine an "incident" that would require them to land in Canada. Even if Newark airport was shut for whatever reason, they could easily be redirected to one of the other major airports in the area; he'd certainly had that happen to him before, but Newfoundland was hours from their destination, so why there?

When the airport finally came into view, Castle and those sitting around him gasped audibly for he was able to see that the airport in Gander, Newfoundland was already packed with wide-body jets. Over twenty, Castle guessed, or a large portion of the planes flying over the Atlantic on that beautiful September morning, he imagined. Once they touched down and parked among the other planes, his gut began to sink; something was very, very wrong.

His thoughts turning to his wife and daughter, Castle plucked his cell phone out of his carry-on bag and attempted to call his wife's cell phone, their apartment's landline, and his mother's apartment, but none of the calls connected. Finally, he was able to reach someone in the Black Pawn office on the west coast and they gravely explained what had happened in New York: planes used as bombs; chaos everywhere. Instantly, he was filled with a mixture of dread and uncertainty. The city he loved—his home for thirty years—was under attack and that was devastating, but more concerning was the safety of his family. Alexis would have been in school. Meredith would have been…well, god only knew where she would have been. Certainly his mother would not yet have been awake during the first part of the attack, but where was she then? Were they all someplace safe? And why couldn't he reach any of them by phone?

Not wanting to be the one to bear the devastating news, Castle kept this knowledge to himself for several hours until the pilot broke the news that an incident in New York City was grounding them and they were unsure when they would be able to take off again. Until then, the Canadian authorities were requesting that they remain on the plane, but they were provided food, drinks, and, best of all for some, free alcohol to distract them. The first few hours hadn't been all that terrible, but now they had been trapped in their tin can on the tarmac for over eight hours, fourteen total since they left Berlin and Castle—along with everyone else—was more than ready to get off the plane.

Thinking that stretching his legs might alleviate the churning uncertainty in his gut—not to mention the ache in his low spine and buttocks, Castle clambered out of his window seat until he reached the aisle. He stretched his arms up high over his head and groaned when he felt his spine pop with release. He arched his back, stretched a little bit more, and then turned towards the back of the plane.

Clustered in the back five rows he saw far more people than the thirty with assigned seats in that area. He estimated at least a third of the plane was packed back there, clinking their petite liquor bottles together, and singing if he was not mistaken. Though he wasn't in the right mood to join in the revelry, he appreciate that at least not everyone was completely miserable.

Sighing to himself, he slipped back into his assigned seat and reached for his cell phone once more. Flipping it open, he dialed his mother's phone number for the fifth time that day and, joyously, the call connected.

"Oh Richard, thank god! Alexis! Alexis! Your father is on the phone. She's been worried sick! We heard from Paula—she said you landed in Canada."

"That's right—Newfoundland." He explained, leaning back in his seat with relief. If Alexis was with his mother that meant she was safe.

"The news says that no planes are allowed to fly in America. Oh Richard it's just awful!"

"I know, I know. They told me. Are Alexis and Meredith staying with you?"

"Alexis is. Meredith said she needed to go check on people from her theatre group so she's not with us."

"Of course." The writer muttered under his breath before saying louder, "May I speak with Alexis, please?"

As his daughter's strained voice came on the line, Castle felt tears form behind his eyes but didn't even bother trying to hide them. He was just so happy to hear that she was fine, safely retrieved from school by her grandmother, and relieved to be able to tell her he was fine as well. She asked if he would be able to come home the following day, and he was sadly forced to confess he wasn't sure, but that he would update them as soon as he knew more. After relaying the same information to his mother, he reluctantly ended the call, knowing he should conserve the phone's battery.

Feeling much better, Castle once again stood from his seat, thinking maybe he'd join the back of the plane for a celebratory miniature drink. Or, at the very least, go and see what they were singing about. He sidled his large frame as best he could down the center aisle, stopping every few feet so someone could step into a row of seats in order to let him pass by.

Just a few rows past the divider between first class and the rest of the plane, Castle stopped walking as something caught his eye. Sitting on the floor, tucked in front of the seat rows and beneath the window, sat a woman curled up in as compact a ball as he'd ever seen. At first, he thought it was a child given how small she looked, but then he saw her hands splayed out on the seat itself and realized they were too large; at the very least she had to be a teen. He glanced around the immediate area, but saw no other person, and couldn't help himself from saying something to the woman in case she was ill in otherwise need of assistance.

"Excuse me? Miss?" Castle said as he ducked his head into the aisle where she sat. "Are you okay, miss?"

"Wha—oh I'm fine." The woman lifted her head from where it had been tucked between the seat front and her knees. When he gazed into her solemn brown eyes Castle realized that this girl was definitely older than he originally guessed. She was at least eighteen, but possibly not much older than that.

"Are you sure? Can I get you some water?"

She shook her head and pressed her palms flat against the seat. She grunted slightly while trying to push herself out of the tight spot she was tucked into. He wondered if she hadn't quite realized how hard it would be to get out of her curled up spot, but she managed and shifted so she sat on the seat instead. "No thanks. I'm okay, just worried."

"You have family in New York?"

"Yes and my mother's sick—that's why I'm going home."

Castle's heart clenched at the woman's words. A sick mother on top of being trapped on an airplane? No wonder she looked so sad. He continued to gaze down at her for several more moments before his stomach flipped and he felt an inexplicable compulsion to help her. He glanced around quickly to see that no one was within immediate earshot before saying in a hushed tone, "Come with me," while beckoning her forward with his fingers.

Her brow wrinkled. "What?"

"I, ah, I have a phone," he explained quietly, "but the battery's dying so I don't want to broadcast it, but you may use it."

"Oh—thank you," she responded in a hushed tone. She stood quickly and followed him back to first class, where he handed her the phone and let her sit in his row while he stood a few feet back in the aisle to give her some space. He was concerned she wouldn't get through, but as soon as she started talking he nodded in approval and then turned his back to give her as much privacy as possible while they were all sharing the same tight space.

Several minutes later he heard her stop talking and turned around with a supportive smile. "Is your mom okay?" he asked conversationally.

She gave a sad little shrug as she pressed the cell phone into his open palm. Tucking an escaped strand of hair behind her ear, she said, "My dad isn't sure. He hasn't been allowed into the hospital today because they're inundated with patients."

Castle frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She shook her head and folded her arms over her chest. "At least he doesn't have to worry about me. Thank you for letting me make that call."

"No problem."

"Is…is your family in the city, too?"

He bobbed his head. "Yes, we live in southern Manhattan, but my mother has a place on the Upper East so my wife and daughter will be staying with her." Well, probably anyway. Who knows where Meredith would end up—probably with any of her theatre costars that had open space and plenty of wine.

"That's good. I'm Kate by the way," she said, offering the smallest of smiles.

He found himself smiling easily in return, for she had one of the loveliest smiles he had ever seen. "Sorry, sorry—my fault for not introducing myself before. I'm Rick Castle."

She reached out for his hand as a curious expression crossed he face. "Castle…like Richard Castle—the writer?"

He let out a breathy chuckle, slightly surprised by the fact that she'd made the connection as women 18-24 were not exactly in his target bracket. "You've read my books?"

She shook her head briefly. "My mother does. I've always meant to, but just never had time with schoolwork."

He nodded; that connection made much more sense. "Well," he said positively, "if we ever get off this airplane, I'll sign a book for your mother."

Kate's smile returned. "She'd love that; thank you."

He nodded and sat down at the end of his row of seats, gesturing for her to do the same. When she sat beside him, he asked, "What school do you go to? NYU?"

"No, Stanford actually, but I'm spending the semester in Kiev….well, I'm supposed to be anyway. I've only been there two weeks. My mom was doing so well, I thought it would be okay if I went, but then my dad called and said she had to be admitted to the hospital and I…"

The young girl turned away from him, clearly stuck by emotion, and Rick's heart ached for her. From the way she was speaking, her mother's illness sounded drawn out, so he immediately assumed it was some type of cancer or something equally as heinous. How terrible! He rested his hand gently atop hers, which lay on the armrest between them, and at his touch she looked back to him. Castle smiled at her. "Don't blame yourself. I'm sure your mother just wants you to have the best education you can get."

Kate shook her head and then gave a half shrug. "She doesn't even know I'm coming home but after-" Her voice broke on the word and she stopped speaking abruptly. He watched her press her lips together tightly and sniff, clearly trying to collect herself. After a moment, she cleared her throat and met his eye. "She almost died two years ago and if something happened and I wasn't there…"

Castle almost winced from the way his heart clenched that time. So he had, most unfortunately, been right insofar as the seriousness of Kate's mother's illness. Of course there was nothing he could do about getting her home faster, but he wanted to do something, even if it was minimal. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Kate. If you need to use the phone again-"

"No, its fine." She shook him off, drawing her hand back into her lap. "I mean, we'll probably be out of here soon right?"

Though he believed if they did not de-plane in the next hour or so they probably would not until the following morning, Castle did not want to upset Kate any further with his theory so he merely joked, "We can only hope—those bathrooms are already pretty scary."

Fortunately, his plan worked and she let out a breathy chuckle. "Yeah. Well, um, I should probably go back to my seat."

"No," he stopped her as she moved to stand. When she gave him a curious look he continued with, "I mean: you don't have to. There was no one sitting here and it's pretty loud back there. You can just…stay."

An expression of relief crossed her face and she nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Rick."

He smiled at her. "No problem, Kate."

* * *

 **August 14, 2004**

Sitting in the laundromat that Saturday afternoon, Kate Beckett sat quietly with a book open in her lap, though she was only partially paying attention to it. With the other part of her brain she wondered what she should do for dinner that evening and if perhaps she should contact some friends to see what they were doing. Just as she was about to reread page 105 for the third time, the ringing of her cell phone thankfully distracted her. She pulled the device from her purse and smiled immediately when she saw the name 'Rick C' on her caller ID.

Nearly three years had passed since that fateful September day in Gander when they first met and Kate was glad to call Rick one of her close friends. She would be the first to admit how unusual their friendship was, starting with their nine year age gap, not to mention the fact that they were in completely different stages in her life, with her being a recent graduate with her master's degree trying to make headway in the publishing world and him being a divorced singe father who also happened to be a minor celebrity, but somehow it worked for them.

For the five days they were stranded on a rocky island in the middle of the Atlantic they had stuck fairly close together. Though the situation was tense, the warm, caring people from the small town of Gander had made it bearable, and so had Rick. He allowed her to use his cell phone as much as she wanted to check in with her parents and in exchange she listened to him talk through what sounded like at the time and ended up being the end of his marriage due to his wife's uncaring attitude and extramarital affairs.

Though she never would have expected it, those three days together seemed to bond them irrevocably. Just a day after returning to the city, Rick showed up at her mother's hospital room with flowers and a signed book for her. During their time in Gander's elementary school gymnasium, Kate had told him about her mother's stabbing and the lingering affects she had after the removal of some of her intestines, but Rick didn't seem to care much about the nature of her sickness, he only cared about making her smile.

When she eventually returned to Kiev, Kate assumed her friendship with Rick would come to a natural end, as their communication would be quite sparce, but then three days before Christmas, after she was back in the city, he called her and invited her over to bake cookies with him and his daughter. By that point, his wife had left them and he was as he said "completely desperate" to celebrate the season as best they could in her absence. As she has never baked solo, she asked if her mother could tag along, and the four of them had a great afternoon together.

Over the next several years they contacted each other an average of once a month, depending on the time of year. Usually she would see the Castle family at least once while back in the city, but with her new job, it had been over six month since she'd returned, so their monthly phone calls were all they had to keep in touch, though Kate didn't mind this, particularly since nearly every call had her in near tears with laughter.

"Hey Rick!" Kate answered the call in her usual cheerful manner.

"Kate? I'm so sorry to bother you but this is kind of an emergency."

Kate sat forward in her seat and her stomach flipped from the tone of her writer friend's voice; she had never heard him so panicked. "What's wrong?"

"Long story short—Alexis is kind of stranded in San Francisco. Is there any way you can go and pick her up?"

"What?" Kate gasped as this unexpected statement. "I mean, um, yeah—yeah I can get her. Where is she? Do you have the address?"

"She's at the train station. Meredith—well, it's a long story. Can you get there?"

"Um, yeah. I'm actually at the laundromat right now, but I should be able to leave in ten minutes. Alexis is at the station by herself?"

"Yes."

"God." Kate exhaled under her breath. As she had interacted with Rick's daughter several times, she knew Alexis to be a more mature than average girl, but she wasn't yet ten years old and certainly not old enough to be in a major city's train station by herself.

"Yes I'm—well I'm still working on how to get her home. She might have to stay with you tonight. You can go to a hotel if you need to—whatever expenses you incur I'll pay you back double."

Kate almost laughed. "Well that's completely unnecessary. I, ah, I can probably get to the station within half an hour—is that okay?"

"Yes—yes. Thank you Kate! I owe you—huge!"

"It's not a problem—really."

After hanging up her call, Kate packed up her still-damp laundry, figuring she could return to the laundromat after picking up Alexis; the girl's safety was now her first priority. She called a cab from her phone and instructed the cabbie to wait for her in the parking lot while she retrieved Alexis. She realized then that she hadn't asked Rick where the girl would be as the train station was a large place, but she decided to start by the bank of public phones. While searching that area she spotted the younger girl's mop of fiery red hair seated just outside the ticketing area and twenty minutes later they were back at the laundromat waiting for Kate's clothes to finish drying.

"So," Kate said, handing the girl a pack of peanut butter crackers from the vending machine before taking a seat beside her. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Alexis ripped open the cracker pack and stuffed one into her mouth before dropping her shoulders with a sigh. "Mom wanted me to visit her before school started so Dad sent me to LA. It was okay, but then she said we had to go to San Francisco so she could audition for something. She got the part, but I had to fly home from LA, so she gave me money and took me to the train station, only they wouldn't let me buy a ticket by myself. I tried to call her, but she didn't answer. So I called Dad."

Kate felt her stomach clench with anger from the girl's story. She had only met Meredith once, on the day they returned to Newark from Gander. She already knew the stories about her infidelity and self-centered attitude, but even without them she still could have easily spotted her fake-caring for Rick as they greeted one another. The subsequent tales of her behavior during their divorce had already reduced Kate's opinion of Meredith so much she didn't think it could get lower until that moment. Of all the reckless and irresponsible things…Kate had no idea why the police hadn't been called by the station, but that didn't matter now; Alexis was safe with her.

"I'm very sorry that happened, Alexis. I know your dad is working on getting you a flight back to New York, but if you can't go until tomorrow, you can I can do something fun tonight."

"Oh," Alexis said, lowering her gaze to her lap. "You don't have to."

Kate reached out and nudged her shoulder. "But I want to."

Alexis looked up and gave her a rather weak smile, but at least it was a smile. "Thanks, Kate."

* * *

 **September 11, 2008**

"I don't know why but," Kate sighed heavily as she stood from the table, making it sound as though she wore a fifty pound rucksack on her back. She carried her plate and empty wine glass to the counter by the sink and placed them both down before looking at the man placing their wine bottle back in the refrigerator. "This anniversary just seems so much sadder than the others."

Castle hummed and took a step forward so he was barely more than a foot from her. "Maybe because it's the first one you're here for."

She shrugged. "Probably."

For six years they'd been separated on the anniversary of the fateful day that changed the lives of so many, but now that Kate had finally moved back to Manhattan, she and Rick had agreed to mark the day together. She had taken off work and they went down to the Ground Zero memorial, held hands during the moment of silence, and then took a leisurely stroll back to his apartment where they'd made an early lunch since neither had anything other than coffee for breakfast.

Despite being in the city for every anniversary, Rick had never gone to one of the services. He usually had the television feed on, but being there in person made it all feel too heavy. Somehow, though, with Kate by his side, it seemed the right thing to do; it seemed bearable.

"Thanks for coming with me."

He smiled. "Of course."

"And, ah," she let out a breathy noise that sounded almost like a laugh. "Thanks for lunch, too."

"Always." He replied as their meals together were some of his favorite events.

Kate hummed and then reached up to tuck a strand of hair back behind her ear before gazing up at him. Her expression was a bit unreadable—somewhere between nervous and anticipatory—but for some reason in that moment it made his mouth go dry. He felt like he was seeing her and all her beauty for the very first time. He wasn't sure what compelled him to do so, but he reached out his left hand and slid it beneath her jaw so that he could cup her face. She didn't pull back, but instead brought her right hand up to rest against his. Castle felt his breath hitch in his chest and suddenly he just knew their lives were about to change.

Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned in and used his hand beneath his jaw to guide their lips together. Though it was their first kiss, the moment felt like a natural one—like he'd been kissing her for years. When she leaned her face into his, Castle felt his stomach fill with those wonderful, warm, swirling feelings of love and happiness; it was perfect.

"Mmm Kate," he hummed when their lips separated. His eyes fluttered open and he saw that she had her bottom lip trapped between her teeth and her expression had turned to one of excited anticipation. Though he wasn't sure when or how it had happened, he knew in that moment that he was in love with her.

Overwhelmed by the joy of this discovery, Castle dove in for another kiss, that time skimming his hands across her back to draw her in closer. She sunk against him, parting her lips and letting him taste the remnants of wine on her tongue. When she hummed into his mouth he pulled her body even tighter against his and skimmed his hands down to caress her backside. She broke their kiss with a laugh and he nudged his nose against hers. "This okay?" he asked gruffly, still not moving his hands.

"Uh huh," she hummed and then kissed him again.

Before Castle even realized they were stumbling their way back across his apartment, their hands freely roaming each other's bodies. Only when he felt her fingers on his belt buckle did he realize just how quickly things were moving and the fog in his brain momentarily cleared. "Wait—wait one second," he said, breathless, just as they were about to enter his bedroom. He took in her plump lips, mussed hair, and quizzical expression before shaking his head and skimming his hand over his mouth, trying to formulate words that might help explain how he felt in that moment.

"I just…I just need you to know this isn't spur of the moment for me. Well, it is but…but for the past eight months, ever since you moved back here, we've been—it's like we were on this path. Things have been so wonderful I guess I didn't even realize how close we were becoming, but we were and…well, there's a right place and a right time for everything, isn't there?" He smiled and dusted his fingers over the curve of her jaw so that she smiled as well.

The prior Christmas when Kate had informed him she was moving back to New York permanently staring the second week in January, he had been thrilled, but at the time those feelings had just been the joy of having his best friend back in the same time zone and living just a subway ride away. Then, as the year progressed, they went from seeing each other once a week, to three times a week, to nearly every day. He would meet her for lunch or mid-afternoon coffee and they would talk and laugh. After breaking up with Gina the prior year, he'd promised himself that he would take a break from relationships, but with Kate in his life he'd never felt the need to seek romantic company. He supposed in the back of his mind he thought they might get together someday, but it still felt as though they were at different places in their lives until the moment when he realized they had been in the same place all along.

"Well, um," she reached out and skimmed her hands down the front of his chest. "I did move back here to be closer to you and Alexis."

"You—you did!?" He blinked, a bit surprised, since she had told him the reason for her move had been career related.

She bobbed her head. "It was one of the main reasons I started looking for jobs out here last fall, yes."

Flummoxed, he shook his head and asked, "Why…why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged. "Felt silly, I guess. I wasn't sure if…if this would ever…"

As a slight blush crept into her cheeks, Castle's smile grew steadily wider. He settled his hands at her hips, drawing her in again. "But you want this, right?"

"Definitely," she breathed before bringing their lips back together. Castle reached down and skimmed his hands down the back of her thighs until he had enough leverage to hoist her up. She locked her legs around his waist and he walked them into his bedroom. By the time he reached the edge of the bed, she had his shirt fully unbuttoned.

He placed her down gently on the mattress and she laid back, gripping on to the open edges of his shirt to pull him down with her, but he paused as he hovered over her, gazing down a her gorgeous face, and thinking how different their lives were at that moment than seven years earlier when he'd gazed upon the scared and worried face of her younger self for the very first time.

"What?" she asked quietly, but he shook off her inquiry easily.

"Nothing," he sighed and climbed up on the bed so he could stretch out above her. "Just thinking how it took us seven years to get here."

She raised her head up to press a sloppy kiss on his mouth before nipping at his bottom lip and breathing, "Worth it."

XXX

As Castle felt his mind slowly return to consciousness from his nap, he became acutely aware that he was not alone in bed. A sexy, gorgeous, kind-hearted woman was curled up beside him and he could not have been happier about it. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that she lay with her hands tucked beneath her head and she was watching him. He grumbled, reached out a hand to stroke her bare arm, and then leaned in to press his lips over hers.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"We should have done that a long time ago."

She let out a slight laugh. "Yeah? Like when? When I was a college senior and you were-"

"Don't finish that sentence; don't make it weird." He grumbled at her.

"I was in my twenties, not seventeen."

He shrugged. "Still. This was good, right?"

"Very good." She hummed out before kissing him again. He felt her slide her leg in between his and he pulled their bodies even closer together, having no complaints about going for round two. Unfortunately, before they could get to that point, he heard the front door of his apartment slam shut.

"Shit, Alexis." He groaned, reluctantly pulling back from his companion.

"What time is it?"

"After school." That was what happened when they had a post-lunch encounter on a weekday and fell asleep after.

"Dad?"

"Ah, out in a sec!" he called out to her before quickly reaching for his boxer shorts.

"The bedroom door is open," his companion hissed to him.

"I know that," he replied, sing-song, before pulling on the rest of his clothing as quickly as he could. Still buttoning his shirt, Castle strolled out into the hallway with as much casualty as he could muster. There, he found his teenaged daughter shrugging off her backpack and laying it down by the foot of the stairs. "Hey—hi! Ho-how was your day?"

Alexis turned around and gazed at him suspiciously. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing I'm fine," he said a bit too quickly, then instantly fought to keep himself from cringing.

Alexis looked him up and down for a moment more before an unfortunate thud followed by a curse could be heard from his bedroom. That time he cringed.

"Oh my god, Dad!" Alexis hissed, clearly scandalized. She took two steps forward and asked quietly, "Do you have a woman in there? Did you pick someone up at the 9/11 memorial? That's so tacky!"

"Wha—no!" He balked instantly at her disturbing accusation. "I didn't pick someone up at the memorial service. That's...Kate." Well, there it was: the cat was out of the bag. Seeing as he'd only been consciously aware of his romantic feelings for her for about three hours, Castle had not decided on how he would break the news to his daughter that his long-time friend was going to become his girlfriend, but there was no time like the present!

Alexis's face relaxed and she said. "Oh." She was quiet for another thrity seconds before she shrugged and continued with, "Well, anyway, school was—wait!"

She gasped so suddenly and so loudly that Castle starteled. Confused as to what would have caused that reaction, he turned around to see Kate who looked—

Oh.

She looked absolutely ridiculously like she'd just had sex: her hair was tussled, her lipstick still smeared, and her shirt buttons were re-buttoned improperly. He was just about to give her a look that said, 'Really? You couldn't look in the mirror before stepping out here?' when his daughter continued with, "Oh my god you—you…how long has this been going on!?"

At her distraught tone, Castle stepped forward and quickly promised, "No Alexis we haven't...we're not hiding from you. We just...I mean its-"

"-new." Kate finished for him.

He nodded. "Yes, new."

Though she still seemed slightly taken aback, she folded her arms over her chest and nodded. "Oh."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean for you to find out like this. But…are you okay with this—us? Do you want to talk about it?"

Alexis looked between him and Kate and then shook her head. "No it's...it's fine. I'm just surprised. And grossed out."

"Sorry." Kate added.

"It's fine. I'm just going to go change...and pretend I never saw this."

Once she was walking up the stairs Castle heard from behind him, "Well that could have gone better."

"Yeah speaking of—nice buttons." He teased when he turned around and pointed at her chest. She glanced down at herself, gasped and apologized, before quickly remedying the issue.

"Do you think Alexis will be okay?"

"Why wouldn't she be?"

Kate shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I never thought about her being unhappy about us being together."

Castle considered this for a moment. "Did you ever anticipate her catching us in the act?"

"Definitely not."

He merely shrugged. "Oh well; that's what therapy is for."

She smacked his chest with her hand. "Rick!"

Laughing, he pulled her into a quick hug, then pulled back and cupped her jaw. "You're happy, right?"

"Very," she promised.

He smiled and kissed her. "Me too."

* * *

 **September 12, 2011**

Sitting on the edge of the bed in one of Gander, Newfoundland's finest hotels, Kate Beckett-Castle chewed earnestly at her bottom lip as a mixture of feelings swirled around her gut. She hadn't realized just quite how emotional the ten year anniversary would be. She lost track of just how many hugs she'd received in the prior forty-eight hours. In fact, she wouldn't have been shocked if she'd received a hug from each of Gander's several thousand residents. They all seemed so happy to have them back and they'd been so generous; even more so than they had a decade earlier, if that was even possible.

Despite the fact that her husband's celebrity was minor at best, once the media caught wind of the origins of their relationship, she and Castle inadvertently became the poster children of everything that had happened in a small Newfoundland town on that fateful day. Since she and Castle both believed the true heroes were the residents of Gander, who had quite literally given up the clothes on their backs—and everything else they owned—to help seven thousand strangers, were the real heroes, they shied away from the press as best they could, but on the ten year anniversary they'd once again become the center of attention. Thankfully, the residents of Gander didn't seem to mind, as they seemed as enthralled by the story of their love as everyone else.

"You ready to go?"

Kate looked over to see her husband exiting the bathroom with his shaving kit, which he tucked into the top of his luggage. Now that all the reunion celebrations were over, it was time for them to return to their home in New York, though she couldn't exactly say she was eager to leave.

"Yeah, I guess."

He tilted his head to the side and gazed at her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and pushed herself into a standing position. "Nothing, really. I guess I'm just feeling extra nostalgic now that we're leaving. If it wasn't for this place…" She sighed and walked towards the window, which provided only views of the highway, nothing scenic, but even that made her sad. Turning back to her husband she said, "We wouldn't be together."

"No?"

She almost laughed at his hesitant tone. "It's how we met; how we became friends."

He walked over and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "You don't think we would have somehow met in the city? Seems to me like we were meant to be together somehow, some way."

She gave a brief nod in agreement. Castle had made his belief that they were soulmates clear from the moment he proposed two years earlier and she couldn't say that she disagreed; they were meant to spend their lives together. Given that, it was certainly plausible they could have bumped into one another in a different way, even if they did live in one of the largest cities in the world. Still… "Yeah, but I like this part of our story."

"Me too." He kissed her again and then walked back towards his suitcase. "C'mon let's-"

"Wait just one second." She hurried over to her purse, unzipped the side pocket, and slipped out the object she'd been carrying around for nearly a week, trying to find the right moment. She intended on doing it their first night back in Gander, but she'd been so tired from all their meet-and-greets that she'd fallen asleep practically the moment they returned to their room. The next two days had progressed similarly, but she didn't want them to leave the city in which they met without telling him her secret.

Turning back around she said, "Sorry, I just saved one little surprise for this trip that I didn't get to show you yet."

His brow rose as he repeated, "Surprise?"

"Yeah." Her heart fluttered beneath her ribs as she held out the slim, rectangular object and parroted, "Surprise."

The man who was already a father recognized the object immediately, and gazed almost frantically between it and the face of his wife before proclaiming, "Oh! Oh Kate!" and pulling her into an immediate hug.

She laughed and hugged him back. After a year of marriage they had agreed to start trying for a child of their own, but she hadn't exactly expected it to happen so quickly. Then again, there was no time like the present to have the child of the man she loved most in the world.

Pulling back from his crushing embrace, Castle gave her a sound kiss and said, "I love you—I love you so much!"

She grinned and pressed her forehead against his. "I love you, too."

* * *

 **A/N:** This fic was written both as my birthday give to all of you (my birthday was yesterday) but as a conveniently timely celebration of 9/11.

This weekend I saw "Come From Away" on Broadway and it's one of the best shows I've ever seen. I encourage you to Google and read about it, but briefly: the musical is based on the real events of 9/11 when planes were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland and they were stuck there for 5 days, while the people of Gander took care of them. I really cannot begin to express how incredible & selfless the people of Gander were; it's a wonderful story.

And, of course, in it there is a real love story and you guys know how I love to fic things... so this is my tribute to all of that. Thank you for reading.


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